


Pick and Choose

by Scotty1609



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, BAMF Pidge | Katie Holt, Blood and Gore, Coran is a Good Bro (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Injury, Keith is a Good Bro (Voltron), Kidnapping, Pidge | Katie Holt Swears Like a Sailor, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Texan Keith (Voltron), Torture, Torture of a minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 21:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9568430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: “Champion... We know these humans are important to you. Now, you will choose which lives... and which dies.”'No,' Shiro thought. 'God, no. Please, not this- anything but this.'“Once your lion is sighted near one ship, the other captives will be killed. If any of the other Paladins are sighted, all three will be killed. Am I clear?”Based off a textpost I saw on Tumblr. Link in Notes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based off of a textpost that you can find here:  
> http://scotty-1609.tumblr.com/post/149254419992/space-pidge-themysteriousballetanon
> 
> And the story idea itself belongs to:  
> http://space-pidge.tumblr.com/  
> and  
> http://themysteriousballetanon.tumblr.com/
> 
> Check out their tumblrs! :D
> 
> WARNINGS: language, blood and gore, torture of a minor, (light, not implicit) PTSD, (light, not implicit) panic attacks

She was cold. So, _so_ cold.

And everything _hurt_. Her brain was throbbing against the inside of her skull, and it felt like someone was stabbing needles into her eyes. Her tongue filled her mouth, and her throat was dry like the desert. Beneath her ribs, her heart was beating sluggishly, her lungs shallowly filling with air before shuddering outwards on her exhale.

“I see you are awake, small one...”

“W-Who you callin' _small_ , Zar-dick?”

An electric shock ran through her body, igniting every last one of her nerves. She would have thought that after all of these months, she would be used to the pain. But it seemed like every time they did this- tied her up, tortured her, demanded the coordinates of the Castle of Lions- they upped the amperage of the device.

Once the shock stopped- and a few additional moments to let her muscles stop spasming went by- Zarkon cleared his throat. “We have something _new_ in store for you, child.”

“M'not _child_ ,” she spat through painfully gritted teeth. If they thought she was truly a child, would they have honestly sent her into the gladiator ring for the past however many months it had been? Maybe the Galra really _were_ that cruel... “Shit-kon.” _Oh,_ _ **good one**_ _, dumbass. That'll_ _ **really**_ _make him cry._

Another electric shock hit her, and this time the girl couldn't contain her screams. Purple lightning surrounded her body, filled her line of sight. She couldn't see anything other than the pulses of electricity, couldn't hear over the blood rushing through her ears, couldn't _think_ over the awful _pain_. It seemed like hours before Zarkon pulled the lever down to stop her agony. If not for the supports holding her up against the vertical table, the girl would have slumped to the floor.

“Are you still going to be insolent?”

A mere whimper was his answer.

With a wide grin, Zarkon pressed a button that had her plummeting to the floor. Unable to even muster the force to catch herself, the girl's chin impacted the floor, busting it open and making blood trickle forth. Zarkon chuckled at her pain and gestured for two guards to lift the girl to her feet. Her head swimming, she tried to make sense of where they were dragging her to. _Left, forward, right, left, forward_ \- but the ship was like a maze to her addled brain.

Finally, they must have reached their destination because she was being bodily thrown into a room. She collided with a chair, the wind swept out of her lungs as she clung to it. Coughs wracked her body, blood mixing with spittle on her lips. A clawed hand lifted her up by the back of her neck and deposited her harshly into the chair. The hand continued to hold her down, while another reached over to her bowed head and stroked her hair.

“Start feed.”

A crackling noise entered the room, and she tried to lift her head to see what was happening. Before she could however, a deep, familiar voice filled the room.

“ _Zarkon. How did you get this signal?”_

“Sh... Shiro...” she croaked out, trying to lift her chin. “Sh- Shir... o...”

“ _Holy-_ **Pidge**?!”

And that was Lance- she'd know his stupid voice anywhere. A loud, angry cry filled the room- _Hunk_ \- followed by a long string of curses in a language she couldn't identify- _Keith_.

“ _Get your pervert hands off him, Zarkon!”_ Lance screamed, referring to the purple claws that were carding through Pidge's hair. It had grown longer over the past few months that she had been captive by the Galra, but she couldn't be bothered to try and cut it herself. And she didn't think there were any alien-barbers aboard this Galra death-ship.

Allura's regal voice rang out loud and clear. _“What do you want from us, Zarkon?”_

Pidge's captor threw his head back and laughed. “From _you_ , Princess? No, no- nothing from _you_. Our Champion, however...”

 _Shiro,_ Pidge's mind screamed at her. She began writhing under Zarkon's hand, and he dug the tips of his nails into her shoulders. “L-Leave 'im 'lone,” Pidge grumbled weakly. Her voice made the paladins on the other end of the video feed let out angry and fearful shouts. “Sh-Shiro-”

The hand that had been stroking Pidge's hair was now gripping it tightly, wrenching her head up by her bangs and baring her neck to the holo-screens in front of them. His nose brushing along the girl's neck, Zarkon took in a deep breath. Pidge heard Lance screaming his head off in Spanish, catching a few swears here and there. “Champion,” Zarkon's gravely voice repeated the horrible name- and _oh_ , how Pidge wished she could see the screens instead of the ceiling, wished she could meet Shiro's eyes and tell him to not give in, to not listen, _she was fine_ and- “You must make a choice.”

The crackling of another video feed popping up sounded, and Pidge became curious. Shifting under Zarkon's hold, craning her neck around, she could barely make out-

Her stomach dropped.

There, on the other end of the screen, was her family. Her father and her brother, looking rather worse for wear in purple jumpsuits and tattered shirts, were huddled together against a wall. They had cuffs around their wrists and ankles, and despite their vulnerable cuddling stances, both Holt men were glaring through the screen passionately. Matt opened his mouth and screamed something, which had the Commander elbowing his son lightly, but the audio on their end must have been off because Pidge heard nothing but static.

“Champion... We know these humans are important to you. Now, you will choose which lives... and which _dies_.”

More outrage, more screams, more anger. Shiro must have hushed the others though, because soon there was only the quiet lull of grumbling and scuffing feet. “Once your lion is sighted near one ship,” Zarkon continued as though he had never been interrupted, “the other captives will be killed. If any of the other Paladins are sighted, all three will be killed. Am I clear?”

There was silence over the line. Pidge could feel her heart slamming against her breastbone, could smell the drying blood on her chin.

Her brother and her father were alive... They were _alive_. But not for long. Not if Shiro was going to do what she _knew_ he was going to do, to try and be heroic and save all three of them like the noble bastard he was. So Pidge did what she knew she had to do.

Wrenching her head from Zarkon's grip- and leaving quite a bit of her hair behind her- Pidge glared at the screen. Seeing her team for the first time hit her hard. Hunk and Lance had both been crying, more from anger than from grief. Their eyes were rimmed with red, tears welling as they glowered at Zarkon. Keith was leaning over the console with both hands clenched into fists, and Pidge could just barely see dents in the metal beneath his hands. His face was redder than his lion, and his iron jaw was clenched. Coran was handling it all the best, to Pidge's surprise. Then again, he was once in the Altean Royal Army, so he must have had some form of training for situations such as these. Allura was fuming while trying her best to look calm. And Shiro...

Shiro looked _wrecked_. His eyes were wide, lips open a sliver as he stared at Pidge's bloody face. His shoulders were shaking, his fists at his sides doing no better.

“S-Shiro,” Pidge grunted, feeling her split lip trickle more blood at the movement, “I'll be okay.” Her chin dropped to her chest as she fought back tears. _I'll be okay_ , she told herself. _I **will**. Matt and Dad need help more than I do right now. I'm a Paladin of Voltron- or, I **used** to be... I will be one again. I **will**. I just- I just need to- to... _ Steeling her upper lip, Pidge's head lifted once more. Shiro's face was twisted with distress, and she inwardly winced at being the cause of his pain. _I have to do this. I have to get away from Zarkon, to get back to the Green Lion... I have to **fight**._

“Don't watch,” Pidge begged them all. “Go- Go get Matt and Dad.”

_Now **,** dumbass, **now**!!_

With a scream to boost her willpower, Pidge twisted in Zarkon's clawed grip and dropped to the floor with a sickening _schlick_ as his nails scratched straight through the flesh of her shoulders and neck. The girl let out a cry of pain before twisting in her position on the floor, trying to crawl backwards and away from her captor. She slipped in a pool of blood- _uh, oh... that's not good... that should be in my body... not on the floor-_ and crashed to the ground. Stars appearing in her eyes, Pidge gasped for air and tried to filter out her teammates' screams, tried to focus on slowing her heart rate so she wouldn't bleed out before she made a plan-

And then Zarkon's fist was slamming down on top of her, and everything went black.

“ _ **KATIE**!”_

 

…

 

It had been three months since Pidge left to find her family, and Shiro was _done_. He had been dealing with Lance's bemoaning the loss of their Green Paladin (“He isn't _dead_ , Lance.”), Hunk's baleful tears when someone accidentally set out too many places at dinner (“Hunk, it's fine, he'll be back soon.”), and Keith's teenage angst at being betrayed 'again' (“Well it's not like I _wanted_ to abandon you for a year, Keith.”). He was exhausted, worried, and angry. He was angry at himself for not stopping Pidge, angry at Pidge for being so immature- _She's only fourteen, Takashi, chill- oh God, she's only fourteen, Matt is going to_ _ **kill**_ _me when she finds him and tells him I let her out on her own oh_ _ **fuck**_ _._

And then they found her, and Shiro wished they had all _never_ found the Blue Lion in that damned desert.

“ _Champion... We know these humans are important to you. Now, you will choose which lives... and which dies.”_

 _ **No,**_ Shiro thought. **_God_** _, no. Please, not this- anything but this._

“ _Once your lion is sighted near one ship, the other captives will be killed. If any of the other Paladins are sighted, all three will be killed. Am I clear?”_

It didn't even process with Shiro that Zarkon was sending them coordinates for both ships at that very moment. He was too busy _freaking out_ about the tiny Green Paladin that was there, bleeding and covered in bruises, and- _oh_ ** _God_** _-_ he knew some of those wounds. Defensive wounds, on her wrists and forearms. The swolleness to her right shoulder, the way it dragged lower than her left. _Dislocated. Defensive wounds... Oh, God_ \- there were light pink scars forming on her neck and cheek, another above her left eyebrow. _Those fucking_ ** _bastards_** _! They put her in the fucking_ ** _pit_** _-_

“ _Shiro.”_ His eyes snapped back into focus when Pidge's voice called out his name. She sounded scared, but determined- like she had made up her mind. Shiro's eyes went wide. _No, Pidge- **no** -_

“ _I'll be okay,”_ the girl told him. _“Don't watch. Go- Go get Matt and Dad.”_

And then she was twisting under Zarkon's grip, screaming in time with the sound of flesh being ripped open, and falling to her back on the floor. Pidge scrambled for purchase on the wet floor- _oh, God, that's so much blood; she can't have that much blood in her body, she's too_ ** _tiny_** _-_ and Zarkon lifted his fist into the air, swinging it down-

The screen went black.

“ ** _KATIE_**!”

Shiro didn't realize it was himself screaming until a hand grabbed his arm. “Shiro!” Keith's voice, angry as it was, attempted to calm him. It wasn't working. “Shiro, we need to _focus_ -”

 _How the **fuck** am I supposed to focus when I promised Matt I'd take care of Katie? When I swore to the Commander I'd keep Matt and Katie both safe? How the **fucking hell** am I supposed to **calm the fuck down**_ -

“S-Shiro?” Hunk's voice somehow managed to break through the thick clouds of panic that were fogging up Shiro's mind. “I think- I think I have a plan...”

“We're all ears, Hunk,” it was Allura who responded.

“Well,” Hunk's eyes were full of trepidation, but he was swaying back and forth excitedly all the same. “Pidge had been showing me the stealth tech he installed on the Green Lion before he- well, before he left, and I managed to install it on both the Yellow and Blue Lions-”

Lance cried out in relief. “We can use Blue and Yellow to go get Pidge's family! And Shiro and Keith can go get Pidge!”

It was an idea. It was a _good_ idea. Not a _great_ idea, but a decent one. _Like we have any other choice..._ Straightening his back, Shiro nodded decisively. “Get to your lions, boys. We've got a family to save.”

In minutes, Shiro and Keith had boarded the Black Lion and were zooming off towards the coordinates Zarkon had sent to them. Lance and Hunk had taken the Blue and Yellow Lions in the opposite direction, headed halfway across the galaxy. The trick to pulling the mission off was that the three Lions had to reach the ships at the exact same time. Keith was in communication with Hunk and Lance, as Shiro wasn't in a stable mindset at the moment, and the three boys coordinated their plan of attack.

“Y'all ready?” Keith asked.

“ _Always!”_

“ _Yup!”_

“Y'know you two don't have to sound so excited...”

“ _Just call it, Mullet-head.”_

“Three... Two...” Keith took a deep breath. “ _Now_!”

Shiro could barely hear Keith's cry over the sound of the Black Lion tearing through the hull of the Galra ship. Roaring, the Black Lion stripped a shard off the metal wall and threw it behind her into the void of space. Galra soldiers and sentries alike were pulled out into the ensuing vacuum, but Shiro couldn't bring himself to care about them at the moment. The Black Lion deposited him and Keith safely in the hall, simultaneously blocking the hole she had created to keep them from slipping out into the black abyss.

Shiro didn't speak as he ran through the halls, cutting down soldier after sentry after soldier that intercepted them. Ever so often, Coran would cry out “Left!” or “Right!” over their communicators, and Shiro and Keith would turn accordingly. Finally, blessed _finally_ , they reached a small, inconspicuous door. Not even caring about security, Shiro slammed his glowing fist into the keypad. He was through the doors the split second they opened, hands up and ready to fight.

But Zarkon was nowhere to be seen.

“He ran,” Keith snarled from his position in the doorway. “Fucking coward.”

Shiro's eyes scanned the room for only a moment before he saw the smear of blood across the floor. His heart dropped into his stomach. “Pidge-” the man gasped, darting over to the frail form lying limp on the ground. She was wearing that horrible purple uniform, Shiro noticed, only it was much, much darker around her upper torso where her blood had saturated it. “Pidge. Pidge!” the man called to her, lifting her into his arms and cradling her to his chest. One of his hands reached up to brush blood-slicked hair from her forehead. She didn't move. “ _Katie_ ,” the wretched gasp ripped from his lungs, and then- _thank_ ** _God_** _-_ Pidge's eyes fluttered open ever so slightly. They were glassy and unfocused, but it was good enough for Shiro. He stood, lifting the girl's limp form into his arms, and turned to see Keith guarding the doorway. Receiving a nod from his leader, Keith began leading their way back to the Black Lion.

The entire flight back, Shiro's eyes kept flickering from the space ahead of them to the back of the cockpit where Keith and Pidge lay. Keith was curled up over the girl, pressing down on the deeper of her wounds as best he could, trying to stall the bleeding. “Shiro,” Keith croaked when one of the cuts gave a particularly strong gush, “ _hurry_.”

It took seconds, but felt like hours, before they reached the Castle of Lions. Coran met them at the front steps, a hover cart functioning as a stretcher alongside him. Shiro didn't want to lay Pidge down, didn't want to relinquish his grip on her. What if she just up and disappeared when he wasn't holding her? What if she bled out? What if-

Before he knew what was happening, Shiro found himself in the healing chamber, assisting Coran in stripping Pidge of her purple jumpsuit and replacing it with a white one. The stark fabric was instantly coated with red, and Shiro's gut clenched. _Please don't die_ , he begged the girl, _please, please,_ ** _please_** _. Not after we just found you again. Not now, Katie..._

“She'll be okay,” came Coran's soothing voice, a hand placed on Shiro's shoulder. He squeezed it gently. “The pods will have her up and running in just a few doboshes, you'll see!” At Shiro's silence, Coran's voice lowered an octave. “Come on now, lad, let's get you into something more comfortable, yes?”

It was only then that Shiro looked down at his amour and realized it was drenched in Pidge's blood.

After he emerged from the shower, skin rubbed red and raw and dressed to the nines in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, Shiro found the others waiting for him in the Common Area. The other Paladins, Coran, Allura, and...

“ _Takashi_!”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I left the ending ambiguous (but with HIGH implications) of who was talking to Shiro because the textpost/story idea was very brief in its ending (and also I was too lazy/busy to make a giant reunion scene '-.-)
> 
> Once more, the story idea itself belongs to:  
> http://space-pidge.tumblr.com/  
> and  
> http://themysteriousballetanon.tumblr.com/
> 
> I'm so glad you guys read!! You can check out my own tumblr at:  
> http://scotty-1609.tumblr.com/  
> and you can check out the other Voltron fics I've written here on AO3!! (If you're interested :))
> 
> Have a good day/night!!


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